Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1887-06-02

vet the natives declare that merchants
and strangers are robbed and murdered
even at the present time. With such
gloomy reminders on every side, and
evening slowly creeping on, began to
regret that / had ever undertaken the
| trip. 1t was too late to turn back, and
the only course was to push on and try
| and reach the ranch. Soon the sun
neared the horizon and then slowly
disappeared below it. For few mo-
ments the clouds were tinged with the
most exquisite colors, which soon faded
and became cold and cherries. After
walking as rapidly as possible for half
an hour 1 was delighted to find myself
| at the end of the forest and almost at
the extreme limit of vegetation. In
front rose the cone of POpocatepetl,
| more beautiful than ever in the dim
| twilight. A broad field of lava lay on
| the other hand, but not sign of the
ranch. The path became SO poor
that with the dim light it became
| almost impossible to keep from going
astray. Only one thing remained to
be done. and that was to camp out and
wait till morning. The prospects
ahead were any thing but pleasant.
To sleep in the open air at an elevation
| of thirteen or fourteen thousand feet
above the sea, without even fire, was
enough to make almost any one shud-
der. There was plenty of wood to
burn, but the smallest light would
attract the brigands to the spot, and
then my trip would come to sudden
ending. The pine trees were small.
and the branches reached almost
to the ground, so it was an easy
matter to gather sufficient quantity
of the brush to construct place
in which to sleep. Some of the smaller
branches, with the aid of punches of
as mattress and pillow. All being
arranged for the night, took one last
look at the dark, gloomy scene and
then crawled inside of my hastily
built house. 1t seemed quite warm at
first, but shortly after the wind began
to blow through the sides, making it
very uncomfortable. To add to my
misery, the visions of those fearful
crosses on the roadside were constantly
before my eyes, and sleep was out of
the question. Whenever a twig or a
branch cracked, / fancied it was foot
step and expected the next moment to
have brigand standing over me, ready
to plunge his knife. Occasionally the
howl of a coyote sounded close at hand
and on several occasions l even fancied
I heard the cry of a mountain lion.
The hours seemed to be stretched into
days, and yet from the position of the
stars could see it was not yet mid
night. The cold winds penetrated
through every crack and crevice of my
poorly-constructedh hut and made it al
most unbearable. On several occasions
it seemed impossible to remain longer
without freezing. A fire, however, was
out of the question, for it meant a pro-
bable visit from the brigands and one
more cross for the roadsides. All things
come to an end, and the long night
finally passed away. My one thought
was to get away from the fearful place,
and without taking even look at the
glorious peak I started on a run down
the mountain. Soon came to stream
on the side of which had walked the
previous day. The water, however,
was frozen solid, showing that the night
must have been intensely cold. After
reaching a lower altitude I began to
feel warm and in good spirits again,
and then for the first time felt heartily
ashamed of having abandoned the trip.
About noon [ reached Amecameca, and
after good dinner and few glasses
of pulQue vowed 1 would reach the
summit of Popocatepetl, and that with
out guides or mules, if it took a whole
year to do it.
The resolution having been duly
made, laid in extra supplies of under
clothing, blankets and provisions and
then made arrangements to start early
the next morning. During the even
ing the agent and his French inter-
prefer called to learn the result of my
trip and to triumph over my failure
They declared that the Americans were
great people for railroads, but they
were far inferior to the Mexicans when
it came to climbing Popocatepetl. The
next day. shortly after sunrise, was
up and ready to start. The path was,
of course, the same over which / had
Soho Vic previous udy, OuI SoHlenOW
managed to wander off on a branch
road and only discovered my mistake
when the path came to sudden end.
A Mexican would consider few oaths
very appropriate on such an occasion.
but being a good American I merely
turned around and retraced my steps.
The mistake was certainly a serious
one. as it took nearly two hours of fast
walking to reach the right path. After
trudging and climbing over twelve |
miles of road and seeing no signs of |
the ranch, 1 determined to leave the |
main path cut across the snur of the |